Temperature-Control Packaging Wraps Up Award

NanoCool's self-contained cooler, which requires no preconditioning, won a Medical Design Excellence Award.

NanoCool technology from NanoCool LLC (Albuquerque, NM) has taken packaging honors in the Medical Design Excellence Awards. Designed as an alternative to phase-change gel packs, the system relies on the evaporation of water in a vacuum to cool package contents, explains Steve Pohlmann, general manager for NanoPore. “We use a semiactive cooler for cooling on demand,” he says. “No preconditioning is needed, and the system is shipped ready to activate.” The technology was developed jointly by NanoPore Inc. (Albuquerque) and MeadWestvaco (Charleston, SC), with the two companies starting work in 2002. NanoCool was launched in early 2005.

The system’s cooler is self contained in the payload area’s lid. The cooler is activated on demand with the user’s push of a button. The payload is cooled by the evaporation of water at low pressure within the cooler. The cooling rate can be controlled to maintain temperatures at 2°–8° C for 48 to 72 hours.

In May 2005, thirteen NanoCool packages were shipped via two-day delivery using Federal Express, also from Albuquerque to Charleston. The trip took 51 hours. With ambient temperatures ranging from 13° to 41°C, the products’ internal temperatures ranged from 2.1° to 6.8°C.

Two standard NanoCool packages are currently available: The NCV-852, which measures 12.25 × 7.9 × 4.57 in. OD and 8.5 × 4.8 × 2.1 ID with an actual weight of 3 lb and a dimensional weight of 3 lb, and the NCV-854, which measures 12.25 × 7.9 × 7.13 OD and 8.5 × 4.8 × 4.25 ID with an actual weight of 4 lb and a dimensional weight of 5 lb. Custom-sized packages can also be designed.